Torchlight vs. Diablo 3: Graphics

German site PCGames.de has posted a clever feature. They’ve taken a dozen screenshots from Torchlight, found (vaguely) similar Diablo 3 screenshots, and juxtaposed the full-sized images side by side.

I like the idea of the feature, but it seems like they selected the comparison shots entirely based on the color or shape of the dungeon tile set, which makes for a fairly superficial survey. Plus, it’s not like Torchlight’s is trying to look like Diablo; they chose a much more stylized, cartoonish art style on purpose. More crucially, screenshots lie, or at least deceive, since they don’t show animations, spell effects, environmental effects (D3’s sandstorms and fog look awesome in person, but just look blurry in screenshots), etc, all of which make more difference to how nice we think a game’s “graphics” are than anything measurable in a still screenie.

All that said, the gallery is still worth a look. Both games look great, TL all the more so when you consider how small the team is and how quickly they produced it, and it’s well worth your time to view the comparisons. The main article page is in German (Google translation) but there’s no reading required to enjoy the comparison gallery.